VATICAN CITY - If you're planning a trip to the Vatican, be sure to take cash.

Since Wednesday, museums and businesses there have been declining credit card and debit card purchases after a decision by the Bank of Italy that is linked to concerns over financial accountability and inadequate money-laundering controls.

Cash machines have also been shut down, except for those with a Vatican Bank debit card.

Chavez fighting lung infection

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is being treated for "respiratory deficiency" after complications from a severe lung infection, his government said, pointing to a deepening crisis for the ailing 58-year-old president.

Mr. Chavez hasn't spoken publicly or been seen since his Dec. 11 operation in Cuba, and the latest report from his government Thursday night increased speculation that he is unlikely to be able to be sworn in for another term as scheduled in less than a week.

It was the first time the Venezuelan government has described the lung infection as "severe."

Puerto Rico to use troops in drug war

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Puerto Rico's new governor is calling out the National Guard to help prevent drug and weapons smuggling.

Alejandro Garcia Padilla said soldiers will be stationed in ports and airports across the U.S. territory to help bolster security.

National Guard spokesman Maj. Paul Dahlen said Friday that he did not know how many soldiers will be involved or when they will be activated.

'Grand warlock' makes predictions

MEXICO CITY - Antonio Vazquez is a cherubic 72-year-old with twinkling eyes, a long white beard and a knack for predicting things that don't happen.

For more than three decades, Mexico's self-proclaimed "Grand Warlock" has been doing tarot card and horoscope readings to reveal what's in store for the coming year. Among past predictions: Fidel Castro would die in 2008. Germany would win the 2006 World Cup. Barack Obama would lose to Mitt Romney.

Despite Mr. Vazquez's consistently incorrect record of prognostication, dozens of journalists swarmed Mexico City's press club on Friday for the Grand Warlock's latest round of predictions.

On tap for 2013, according to the Grand Warlock: a new war in the Middle East, chaos in Venezuela and a tough year for Mr. Obama.

But it's not all bad news. Mr. Vazquez said 2013 will be a great year for Mexico.

Syrian forces bombard rebel areas near capital

BEIRUT - Syrian government warplanes and artillery pounded restive suburbs of Damascus on Friday and anti-regime activists said a car bomb targeted an intelligence building north of the capital.

Fighting in Syria's civil war has flared in areas around Damascus as rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad try to push into the city itself. The rebel advances in the suburbs threaten the government's grip on its seat of power, prompting a punishing response from the military on rebel areas skirting the capital.

Anti-regime activists circulated a video they said showed an explosion near a military intelligence office in the town of Nabk, north of the capital. They had no information on casualties and the government did not comment on the bombing.

The blast came one day after a car bomb hit a gas station in the capital itself, killing eleven people, activists said. While no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, they could be guerrilla strikes by rebels groups who lack the force to battle Assad's troops in the capital.

Syria's 21-month conflict has turned into a bloody stalemate that the United Nations says has killed more than 60,000 people, and it warns the civil war could claim the lives of many more this year. International efforts to stop the fighting have failed so far, and although rebels have made gains in recent months, they still can't challenge Assad's hold on much of the country.

On Friday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government warplanes bombed suburbs of the capital, including Douma, where twin airstrikes killed more than a dozen people a day earlier.

The Observatory also reported the explosion near the military intelligence building in Nabk, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Damascus.

A amateur video posted online showed a large explosion and a large gray cloud of smoke billowing from the area. An off-camera narrator said the blast struck the intelligence building.

The video appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting.

Fighting also raged south of the capital, where rebels have been trying to push into the city for weeks.

Damascus activist Maath al-Shami said the government fired rockets and mortars from Qasioun mountain overlooking the capital at orchards near the southern suburbs of Daraya and Kfar Sousseh.

The Observatory reported clashes between rebels and the army in other areas south of the capital and on the road to the city's airport, to the southeast.

For its part, the Syrian army said in a statement late Thursday that troops had killed "terrorists" in areas around the capital, including Daraya.

The government says the uprising is fueled by foreign-backed terrorists who seek to destroy the country.

"Regime forces are facing very strong resistance in Daraya," said al-Shami via Skype, but added that government forces had been able to advance down the suburb's main thoroughfare.

The government's capture of Daraya, southwest of the city, would provide a boost to the regime's defense of Damascus. It is close to a military air base as well as government headquarters and one of President Bashar Assad's palaces.

In the north, rebels continued to clash with government forces inside the Taftanaz air base in Idlib province and near the Mannagh military airport and the international airport in Aleppo. The attacks are part of the rebel's effort to erode the military's air power.

Fadi al-Yassin, an activist based in Idlib, said the rebels killed on Thursday the commander of Taftanaz air base, a brigadier general.

"The battles now are at the gates of the airport," al-Yassin said via Skype. He added that it has become very difficult for the regime helicopters to take off and land at the facility.

He said warplanes taking off from airfields in the central province of Hama and the coastal region of Latakia are targeting rebels fighting around Taftanaz.

The Syrian Army General Command said troops directed "painful strikes" against the "armed terrorist groups" of Jabhat al-Nusra, a group the U.S. claims has designated a terrorist organization that is at the forefront of the airport attacks. The Syrian military said it killed many of the group's fighters.

The Aleppo airport has been closed since Monday. A government official in Damascus said the situation is relatively quiet around the facility, adding that it is up to civil aviation authorities to resume flights.

A man who answered the telephone at the information office at the Damascus International Airport said, "God willing, flights will resume to Aleppo very soon."

Fatah rally in Gaza looks toward unity with Hamas

AP Photo BA109, BA105, BA102, BA107, BA108, BA107

Eds: Minor edits. With AP Photos.

By IBRAHIM BARZAK

Associated Press

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Tens of thousands of Fatah supporters rallied in the Hamas stronghold of Gaza on Friday for the first time since they were routed from power there by the Islamist militants in 2007.

The rally, approved by Gaza's Hamas rulers, marks a renewed attempt by the rival Palestinian factions to show unity following a fierce Hamas battle with Israel in November and Fatah's subsequent recognition bid at the United Nations.

But many obstacles still remain before the sides can settle their differences, chief among them how to deal with Israel. Several rounds of reconciliation talks over recent years centered on finding ways to share power have failed to yield results.

Still, both sides expressed optimism following Friday's unprecedented Fatah show of strength that included hours of waving their yellow flags, dancing in the streets and chanting party slogans. For years, Fatah loyalists in Gaza faced retribution from the Hamas regime, which banned them from gathering.

"We feel like birds freed from our cage today," said Fadwa Taleb, 46, who worked as a police officer for Fatah before the Hamas takeover and attended Friday's rally with her family. "We are happy and feel powerful again."

Top Fatah officials arrived in Gaza for the first time since they were violently ousted. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who rules the West Bank, did not attend the event, but he addressed the crowd on a large screen telling them "there is no substitute for national unity."

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh also expressed hope that the two factions could reconcile their differences, sending Fatah a message that he hoped they could work together as joint representatives of the Palestinian people, according to Fatah official Nabil Shaath. Hamas was not directly involved in the event.

Ihab al-Ghussian, the chief spokesman for the Hamas government in Gaza, said the sides would "work toward the consolidation of national unity." Egyptian officials say a first such meeting in months between the factions is scheduled for next week in Cairo.

After the rally, Haniyeh called Abbas to congratulate him and Abbas in turn thanked Haniyeh for letting it happen, said Haniyeh spokesman Taher al-Nunu. He added that both leaders expressed hope that the cooperation would lead to renewed reconciliation efforts.

The warmer tone is a result of recent gains by both factions.

Abbas has enjoyed a boost in his status since he led the Palestinians' successful bid to upgrade their status at the United Nations to a non-member observer state. On Friday, he signed a presidential decree officially changing the name of the Palestinian Authority to the "State of Palestine." All Palestinian stamps, signs and official letterhead will henceforth be changed to bear the new name, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The move marked the first concrete, albeit symbolic, step the Palestinians have taken following the November decision by the United Nations. Abbas has hesitated to take more dramatic steps, like filing war crimes indictments against Israel at the International Criminal Court, a tactic that only a recognized state can carry out.

Hamas, meanwhile, has gained new support among Palestinians following eight days of fighting with Israel in November, during which Israel pounded the seaside strip from the air and sea, while Palestinians militants for the first time lobbed rockets toward Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Following the fighting, Fatah allowed Hamas to hold its first rally in the West Bank since the 2007 split. Hamas returned the favor Friday by allowing the Fatah rally to take place.

Still, the two sides have wide differences - over Israel and over the possibility of sharing power.

Fatah has held several rounds of peace talks with the Jewish state and says it is committed to a two-state solution. Hamas does not recognize Israel and is officially committed to its destruction. Hamas has carried out hundreds of deadly attacks against Israeli citizens and is regarded by the U.S. and Israel as a terrorist organization.

Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal, considered more pragmatic than the movement's Gaza-based hardline leaders, forged a reconciliation agreement with Abbas in 2011. But the Gaza-based leadership has held up implementing it and has blamed Fatah of doing the same.

Fatah enjoys Western support and has been pressured not to forge a unity agreement with the militant Hamas, facing a potential cutback in foreign aid if it does.

Friday's rally also served as a reminder of the conflicts within Fatah itself that continue to dog the movement: Officials cancelled the event halfway through after 20 people were injured due to overcrowding, and shoving matches erupted between separate Fatah factions.

Yahiya Rabah, a top Fatah official in Gaza, said the rally was cancelled "due to the huge number of participants and logistical failures."

But witnesses said one pushing match was between supporters of Abbas and partisans of Fatah's former Gaza security commander Mohammed Dahlan, who was expelled from the party because of conflicts with Abbas.

Another Fatah official, who spoke anonymously because he did not want to embarrass the party, said the rally was cancelled because hundreds of Dahlan supporters jumped up on the stage and clashed with Abbas supporters.

Fatah spokesman Fayez Abu Etta attributed the injuries to overcrowding and the excitement of the rally. Later, more Palestinians were injured when part of a stage collapsed. Youths also clashed and stabbings were reported. Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra said overall 55 people were injured, including three critically.

There was one death during the rally: A 23-year-old Fatah activist was electrocuted while trying to hang a flag on an electric pole.

Overnight, throngs had camped out in a downtown Gaza square to ensure themselves a spot for the anniversary commemoration of Fatah's 1965 founding, and tens of thousands marched early Friday carrying Fatah banners. When the rally began, people stampeded to the stage to try to shake leaders' hands.

We welcome user discussion on our site, under the following guidelines:

To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here.

Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions.

Think you have the cutest pet in NEPA? Share a photo of your furry companion and you could win prizes from our sponsors! Deadline to submit an entry is March 19, and voting will take place from March 20-March 31.